This invention relates to a travelling flats assembly for a carding machine and is of the type which has a plurality of clothed flat bars carried by at least one endless flexible belt and wherein the flat bars slide at both ends on slide guides to execute a working pass and thereafter, deflected by an end roller, travel in the reverse direction to the beginning of their working pass.
In practice, the flat bars are pulled along the slide guides by two chains which are mounted to opposite ends (heads) of the flat bars. The attachment of the chain to each flat bar is effected at each end of the flat bar by a screw which extends axially through a bushing at the chain link articulation into bore which is provided in the flat bar head and which is provided with an inner thread. It is a disadvantage of this arrangement that providing the end of the flat bar head with an inner thread is technologically elaborate. It is a further disadvantage that the screw has to be tightened with a certain torque which renders the assembling operation--for example, after refurbishing the flats with a new clothing--time-consuming.
German Pat. No. 1,115,621 proposes to replace the chain with a toothed belt or a band. The band is secured to each flat bar head by a clamping plate which slides over an arcuate guide. The manufacture of the mounting components and the assembling operation are significantly complex. It is also a disadvantage of this prior art solution that similarly to the difficulties encountered with chains--due to the screw connection between the band and the flat bar heads, a replacement of the flat bars, particularly during operation, is not possible in a rapid and simple manner.